Disc Brake Lever Roller Retention for Secure Utility Vehicle Braking
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing brake-application devices for disc brakes in utility vehicles face issues with insufficient axial security of the roller, leading to potential brake failure, abrasive particle ingress, complex assembly, and increased manufacturing costs due to complex machining requirements.
Innovation Solution
A brake-application device with a securing element that virtually connects the roller to the bridge, ensuring axial, radial, and rotational security, allowing preassembly as a unit and simplifying installation, using clamping sleeves, dowel pins, or eyelets for frictional locking, which are cost-effective and easier to produce.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the roller is freely rotatable on the bridge, then the brake lever can pivot smoothly, but the roller is insufficiently secured against axial displacement and rotation, leading to breakage of tabs and potential brake failure
Solution Approach 1:
A securing element is introduced as an intermediary component between the roller and the bridge. This securing element positively locks the roller to the bridge, preventing axial displacement and rotation while allowing the brake lever to pivot smoothly. The mediator resolves the contradiction by providing both the necessary constraint for reliability and the freedom for smooth operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The securing element is designed as a separate component that can be independently manufactured and assembled. This segmentation allows the roller, bridge, and securing element to be produced separately with simpler machining operations, then assembled together to achieve the desired functionality of both smooth pivoting and secure positioning.
2Reliability
If flattened portions are provided on the roller and support surfaces on the bridge to secure the roller, then axial and rotational security is improved, but the configuration becomes complex and machining operations become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The securing element serves as a mediator that handles the complex securing function separately. Instead of machining complex flattened portions and support surfaces directly into the roller and bridge, the securing element is designed with simpler geometries that can be easily manufactured and then assembled to provide the necessary axial and rotational security.
Solution Approach 2:
The complex securing function is segmented into a separate securing element component. This allows the roller and bridge to be manufactured with simpler, easier-to-machine geometries, while the securing element—designed specifically for the securing function—provides the necessary constraints through its own structure.
3Reliability
If the roller is secured against rotation and displacement using flattened portions and support surfaces, then reliability is improved, but assembly becomes more difficult and requires particular assembly measures
Solution Approach 1:
The securing element acts as a mediator that simplifies the assembly process. It is designed to be easily attached to the roller and bridge separately, then assembled together without requiring complex alignment or special assembly tools. The intermediary component provides the securing function while maintaining ease of assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The securing element is pre-attached to either the roller or the bridge before final assembly. This preliminary action ensures that the roller is already secured against rotation and displacement before installation, eliminating the need for complex assembly measures during final installation of the disc brake.
4Duration of action of stationary object
If hardened steel is used for the roller to prevent wear from steel/steel friction, then durability is improved, but manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The securing element is made of a different material than the roller, creating a composite material system. This allows the roller to be made from less expensive material while the securing element provides the necessary wear resistance and structural support, reducing overall manufacturing costs while maintaining durability.
Solution Approach 2:
The securing element serves as an intermediary that handles the wear and friction between steel components. This allows the roller itself to be made from less expensive material, as the securing element absorbs the wear from steel/steel friction, thereby reducing manufacturing costs while maintaining the service life of the assembly.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration enhances the service life of the brake-application device, simplifies assembly, reduces manufacturing complexity and costs, and eliminates the need for hardened steel, while ensuring secure roller positioning without external assembly aids.
Implementation Method 1
the at least one roller is virtually connected to the bridge by a securing element, a fixing of the roller, in relation to the bridge, in terms of an axial direction, a radial direction and a direction of rotation is ensured
Implementation Method 2
the use of a clamping sleeve which is plugged both into a bore in the bridge and into a bore in the roller and which is held therein in a frictionally locking manner has proven to be particularly advantageous
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a brake application mechanism for a disc brake in a utility vehicle, having a pivotable brake lever that is supported on an inner wall of a brake caliper and, indirectly, on a bridge which is movably disposed in the brake caliper and which supports at least one brake pad, wherefor an axially and radially secured antifriction roller is disposed between the brake lever and the bridge. The disclosed brake application mechanism is designed such that the antifriction roller rests on the bridge in such a way as to be prevented from rotating and sliding.